Hanger construction



June 24, 1969 PEL V'W ET AL 3,451,601

HANGER CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 8,1967 i Sheet 012 1 INVENTORS JOSEPH PELAVIN BY- FRANK IOVIERO ATTORNEYS June 24, 1969 J. Y. PELAVIN ET AL 3,451,601

HANGER CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 8, 1967 Sheet 2 of 2 INVENTORS JOSEPH PELAVIN BY FRANK IOVIERO ATITORNEYS United States Patent 3,451,601 HANGER CONSTRUCTION Joseph Y. Pelavin, Brooklyn, and Frank Ioviero, Howard Beach, N.Y., assiguors to Droutman Manufacturing Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 8, 1967, Ser. No. 614,593 Int. Cl. A47j 51/098 US. Cl. 223-85 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hanger construction wherein a garment-supporting portion has an upper central part formed with an upwardly directed notch a lower portion of which is adapted to receive a supporting rod which carries the hanger. A hook is located beside the upper central part of the garment-supporting portion, and a connecting means connects the hook to the upper central part of the garmentsupporting portion for turning movement relative thereto between a release position displaced from the notch and a locking position extending across the notch over the lower portion thereof, so that when a supporting rod extends through the lower portion of the notch and the hook is in its locking position the hook will extend over the rod locking the latter in the notch. A detent means releasably holds the hook in its locking position to prevent displacement of the hanger from the supporting rod until the detent means is released.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to hanger construction.

In particular, the present invention relates to that type of hanger construction which is adapted to support garments in a garment bag which may form an article of luggage, for example. Hangers of this type are conventionally provided with locking hooks for extending over the supporting rod which carries the hanger to lock the hanger thereon, and such hooks are swingably connected to the hanger for turning movement with respect thereto between locking and unlocking positions. This connection of the locking hook to the garment-supporting portion of the hanger is generally provided by way of a rivet which acts as a pivot pin, and it commonly happens that the hook becomes loose on the rivet so that it becomes easily disengaged from the rod, thus providing an undesirable separation of the hanger from the supporting rod with consequent wrinkling of the clothing and highly undesirable inconvenience.

Summary of the invention In accordance with the invention, the hanger includes a garment-supporting portion having an upper central part formed with an upwardly directed notch the lower portion of which is adapted to receive a supporting rod which carries the hanger. A locking hook is located beside the upper central part of the gament-supporting portion, and a connecting means connects this hook to the upper central part of the garment-supporting portion for turning movement with respect thereto between a release position displaced from the notch and a locking position extending across the notch over the lower portion thereof, so that when the supporting rod extends through this lower portion the locking hook will extend over the rod to lock the hanger thereon. In accordance with the present invention a detent means is carried on the one hand by the upper central part of the garment-supporting portion and on the other hand by the locking hook for releasably holding the locking hook in its locking position.

3,451,601 Patented June 24, 1969 It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a hanger construction of the above general type which will avoid the above drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide for a hanger of the above general type a structure which is capable of releasably and reliably holding the locking hook in its locking position so that unforeseen disengagement of the hanger from its supporting rod will be reliably avoided.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to achieve this latter result without adding to the hanger components which will undesirably increase the cost thereof or which will undesirably increase the space Which is occupied by the hanger.

Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a structure which can be manipulated in much the same way as a conventional hanger of the above general type while at the same time achieving the results of the invention according to which the hanger will be reliably retained in its position locked on the supporting rod.

Brief description of the drawings For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows in elevation one possible embodiment of a hanger construction according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows, in a fragmentary elevation, the hanger of FIG. I mounted on and locked to a supporting rod;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section of the structure of FIG. 2 taken along line 33 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 shows in elevation another possible embodiment of a hanger construction according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevation showing the hanger of FIG. 4 mounted on and locked to a supporting rod; and

FIG. 6 is a transverse section of the structure of FIG. 5 taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrows.

Description of preferred embodiments Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown therein a hanger 10 composed of a garment-supporting portion 12 made of a web of plastic, for example. Connected to the garmentsupporting portion 12 is a conventional supporting hook 14 which is adapted to extend around a stationary bar 16 of a conventional closet, for example, so that the hanger 10 can be used in a conventional manner.

The garment-supporting portion 12 of the hanger 10 has an upper central part 18 formed with an upwardly directed notch 20 having, as shown in FIG. 2, a lower portion adapted to receive a supporting rod 22 which may form part of an article of luggage such as a garment bag, as is well known. In order to support the hanger 10 on the rod 22, the hanger includes a locking hook 24 situated beside the upper central part 18. A connecting means 26 connects the locking hook 24 to the garment-supporting portion 12 at its upper central part 18 for turning movement relative thereto between the release position shown in FIG. 1 where the locking hook 24 is displaced from the notch 20 and the locking position shown in FIG. 2 where the locking hook 24 extends across the notch 20 over the lower portion thereof which receives the rod 22, so that in this way the hanger is mounted on the rod 22.

As is indicated in FIG. 3, the connecting means 26 is in the form of a simple rivet extending through the upper central part 18 of the garment-supporting portion 12 and through the hook 24 so as to turnably connect the latter to the garment-supporting portion 12. The hook 24 and the supporting hook 14 are formed from a single piece of resilient metal having the configuration most clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, so that this piece can be turned between the positions of FIGS. 1 and 2.

In order to releasably hold the locking hook 24 in its locking position shown in FIG. 2, there is provided, in accordance with the present invention, a detent means 28 carried in part by the upper central part 18 and in part by the locking hook '24 for releasably holding the locking hook 24 in its locking position. In the illustrated example this detent means 28 includes a projection 30 integral with the hook 24 and formed by a boss pressed therefrom and a recess 32 formed in a metal plate 3 which is fixed to the upper central part 18 of the garmentsupporting portion 12 of the hanger 10. Thus, the plate 34 has an exterior side surface forming a side surface of the upper central part 18 and directed toward an exterior side surface of the locking hook 24, and it is these side surfaces which are respectively provided with the recess 32 and projection 30 which form the detent means 28. The connecting means formed by the rivet 26 provides between the upper central part 18 and the hook 24 a clearance which will cause the projection 30 to resiliently deflect the hook 24 away from the upper central part 18 when the projection 30 is out of the recess 32, so that when the projection 30 becomes aligned with the recess 32 it will snap into the latter providing the locking arrangement shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

When it is desired to remove the hanger from the rod 22 the operator will simply turn the hook assembly 14, 24 from the position of FIG. 2 into the position of FIG. 1, displacing the projection 30 out of the recess 32, and the parts will have the position indicated in FIG. 1.

It will be noted that the side surface of the upper central part 18 which is directed toward the hook 24 is stepped so as to form a shoulder 36 beyond which the projection 30 is located when the hook 24 is in the region of its release position shown in FIG. 1, so that the projection 30 does not in any way resist the turning of the hook 24 or the hook 14 as long as the hook 24 is not in the region of its locking position shown in FIG. 2. With this arrangement it is only when the book 24 is in the region of the locking position shown in FIG. 2 that the projection 30 will slidably engage the exterior surface of the plate 34 when this projection 30 is displaced to a relatively small distance beyond the recess 32.

In the embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in FIGS. 4-6, the hanger 50 has a garment-supporting portion 52 in the form of a wire. This garment-supporting portion 52 has an upper central part 54 in the form of a metal plate connected to the wire 52. Thus, as is shown most clearly in FIG. 6, the plate 54 is wrapped around the wire 52 and has a pair of wall portions 56 and 58 located directly next to each other. This upper central part 54 of the hanger 50 carries the connecting means 60 which is in the form of a rivet which may be identical with the rivet 26 and which serves to turnably connect to the upper central part 54 the locking hook 62 and the supporting hook 64 which together form a hook assembly identical with the hook assembly 14, 24. Thus, the supporting hook 64 is capable of supporting the hanger 50 on a conventional supporting bar 16 while the locking hook 62 is used for joining the hanger to the rod 22.

This construction also includes a detent means 66 which functions in much the same way as the detent means 28 for releasably holding the hook 62 in its locking position shown in FIG. 5. Thus, the detent means 66 includes a projection 68 integral with the locking hook 62. and projecting therefrom in the same way that the projection 30 projects from the locking hook 24, while the wall 58 of the plate 54 is formed with a detent recess 70 into which the projection 68 snaps when the hook 62 is in the locking position thereof shown in FIG. 5. However, in this case, the detent recess 70 is in the form f a notch which extends inwardly from an edge of the Wall 58. The clearance provided between the outer side surface of the wall 58 and the side surface of the hook 62 which is directed toward the wall 58 is small enough to provide for deflection of the resilient hook 62 away from the wall 58 when the projection 68 is out of the recess 70 and engages the wall 58. However, it will be noted that after the hook-assembly 62, 64 has been turned through a relatively small angle beyond the locking position of FIG. 5, the projection 68 will be situated beyond the plate 54 so that there will be no resistance to turning of the hook assembly.

Thus, the embodiment of FIGS. 4-6 will achieve the same advantages as the embodiment of FIGS. 13 which is .a different constructed hanger.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding descrip tion, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A hanger comprising a garment-supporting portion having an upper central part formed with an upwardly directed notch having a lower portion for receiving a supporting rod which is adapted to carry the hanger, a locking hook located beside said upper central part of said garment-supporting portion, connecting means connecting said hook to said upper central part of said garment-supporting portion for turning movement with respect thereto between a release position displaced from said notch and a locking position extending across said notch over said lower portion thereof so that when the supporting rod extends thrugh said lower portion of said notch said hook will extend over said rod, when said hook is in said locking position thereof, for locking the hanger on said rod, and detent means carried in part by said upper central part of said garment-supporting portion and in part by said hook for releasably holding the latter in said locking position thereof, said upper central part having a side surface directed toward said hook while said hook has a side surface directed toward said side surface of said upper central part, said detent means including a projection projecting from one of said side surfaces toward the other of said side surfaces, and a portion of said other side surface formed with a recess which receives said projection when said hook is in said locking position thereof.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said hook is resilient and is deflected by said projection away from said upper central part of said garment-supporting portion when said projection is out of said recess and extends between said side surfaces, so that when said projection and recess of said detent means are displacedone with respect to the other into alignment with each other,'said hook will due to its resiliency snap toward said side surface of said upper central part with said projection becoming situated within said recess for releasably holding said hook in said locking position thereof.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said projection is carried by said hook while said recess is formed in said side surface of said upper central part of said garment-supporting portion.

4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said jection is integral with said hook.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein said garment-supporting portion is composed of a web of plastic and has at said upper central part thereof a metal plate fixed to said plastic web and formed'with said recess of said detent means, said side surface of said upper central part of said garment-supporting portion being formed by an exterior surface of said. metal plate and said projection sliding along the latter exterior surface when displaced from said recess.

6. The combination of claim 4 and wherein said garment-supporting portion of said hanger is wire While said upper central part of said garment-supporting portion is a metal plate which is connected to said wire and which has an exterior side surface forming said side surface of said upper central part which is formed with said detent recess.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said recess is in the form of a notch extending inwardly from an edge of said metal plate.

8. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said side surface of said upper central part is formed with a recess of said detent means, said hook having said projection received in said recess when said hook is in said locking position thereof, and said projection being spaced from said side surface of said upper central part after 15 after the latter has been displaced through a relatively small distance from its locking position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,686,424 10/1928 Thomson et al. 24-232 1,893,815 1/1933 Wilt et a1 22388 2,148,244- 2/ 1939 Plotkin 22388 XR 2,701,082 2/ 1955 Cohen 223-85 FOREIGN PATENTS 569,708 6/ 1945 Great Britain.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

